Update: BART Says Murder Suspect Now in Custody

The BART Police Department released images of John Lee Cowell, 27, who is a suspect wanted for fatally stabbing 18-year-old Nia Wilson and wounding her sister at MacArthur Station Sunday night.

Cowell is Caucasian, stands 5’ 8”, and weighs 190 pounds. Cowell has short, dark hair as well as a closely cropped beard and mustache.

Cowell should be considered dangerous and anyone who sees him should immediately call 9-1-1.

BART police officers were already at MacArthur Station when the incident occurred at approximately 9:36 pm and were flagged down about a male suspect on the platform with a knife. Officers arrived on the platform and found two women suffering from stab wounds. Officers immediately began rendering aid to the victims until paramedics arrived. Nia Wilson succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Her sister was taken to a nearby hospital.

It appears both the suspect and victims boarded a BART train at Concord Station at the same time and then off boarded at MacArthur. BART detectives have carefully reviewed video from surveillance cameras on the train the victims and suspect were riding on as well as platform video at MacArthur Station.

The attack happened on the MacArthur platform. BART detectives are sharing images from the surveillance videos with other law enforcement agencies as well as the public.

Investigators also recovered valuable evidence at the scene of the crime.

Update

An anonymous tip from a BART rider has led to the arrest of the suspect wanted in connection with the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Nia Wilson and the wounding of her sister at the MacArthur BART Station Sunday night. BART police quickly responded to the tip and found 27-year-old John Lee Cowell aboard at Antioch-bound train at the Pleasant Hill Station. Cowell was arrested by BART police officers without incident.

Being loud or obnoxious does not give you the right to Slit someone’s throat that is murder and attempted murder no matter which way you slice it. THIS would be no different if I took matters into my own hands because I disagree with your comment above the disrespect is endless and the ignorance you’re displaying with this comment or opinion alone is the reason things like this are deemed acceptable

Sane, reasonable people call the authorities if someone is being disruptive or confrontational. They don’t stab people. I don’t know you friend so I will chalk up your comment to you being an inconsiderate asshole and not because you support people start stab each other for every annoyance that transpires on public transportation.

I am waiting for the actual facts to come out before rendering an opinion as to what transpired and if any action was warranted on his part. With that being said, If it does turn out that this guy stabbing her for being nothing more than disruptive, that girls father should be well within his rights to slit that guys throat from ear to ear in retribution for his daughter. I know as a father that be the only thing that would make me feel better is to do it myself.

I disagree with the first part of your comment, there is No reason for a guy to do that to a female, UNLESS his own life was in danger, but this doesnt seem to be the case here. But i totally agree with the second part of what you said.

@Half Right- you proved my point exactly. The actual facts of what transpired are not out yet, and probably won’t be out for a few days to a few weeks. For all we know the females may have brandished a weapon first and he defended himself. From the information that has been released already, it doesn’t appear likely, but I wasn’t there and can’t base any decision on what I didn’t see. These days people jump to conclusions based on initial reports, only to sometimes have those reports be inaccurate because it’s based on bits and pieces of scattered information. Hence why am waiting because I want to make an informed decision with regards to my opinion on the matter.

Either way, yours and my end game meet if this guy is in fact guilty. 👍🏻

It is way past time for the joke that is bart pd to start riding the trains instead of hanging out in parking lots. There are a couple of hundred cops on this highly paid pd and they are not doing a damn thing to protect the public. My wife rides bart to McArthur station to work and back from WC every day. Not any more. It is no more expensive to drive at this point, at least in your car you get to sit down and not have to be packed in the train like a sardine, nor deal with the junkies, the nuts and the thieves. Worst case you get stuck in traffic, at least you come home alive. Vote out everyone of those assholes on the bart board, don’t ride it unless you absolutely must…..

@ Dmitri…always with the race victim bullshit, that card is so used up, thats its just comical at this point. Funny how you assume hes a white supremacist and say how they only prey on the weak. Who do the hoodrats prey on? They prey on old 75 year old men shopping at Orchard and kill him over $5. They always run around in groups cause they are to big of pussies 1 on 1. They use being loud and animated as a way to intimidate people, we all know that. And lastly we all know they dont fight clean, always got to pull out a gun, because they are pussies. Dont assume everyone on here or in Antioch are scared, some of us have no fear.

Way to detract from the actual story Nick. Insecure white dudes like you feel you have to prove something because your “master race” rhetoric is fading with time. Scared of becoming a minority? Have minorities been mistreated in the USA or something? LOL. Thanks for bringing up lynching, something that a group of men had to hang up to commit, and it was legal. You’re a disgrace Nick. Go back to Alabama or wherever you came from.

Youre the one that detracted from the story first, read what you wrote dips hit! You said nobody would say it to a black giy, he said he would and you ignored it. Now go back to being a pu ssy like the rest.

Actually the person Rumor started the thing about race. Did you guys even read the original comment? Plus, multiple news outlets were saying the man had ties to white supremacy factions, whether it be true or not. In all, race undoubtedly does play a role in many individual actions in our world unfortunately. Even if the girls did say something about him being white, it doesn’t warrant being murdered for it; I hope you all can agree at least on that.

None of can say if she deserved it or not until all the facts come out. Maybe it was self defense, maybe he felt threaten my the racial slurs at him, maybe they brandish a knife at him and he took it from them. BUT if it was a random act, them he deserves to be killed as well, regardless of her being black, white or green.

It’s interesting that the ride started at the Concord BART station. This is an area with some really weird and disruptive people hanging around. Lots of riders have been accosted there! The Concord PD has been called because some of the problems occur on the sidewalk and not in BART’s parking territory.

This guy was heading for Antioch? Is that where he lives? I wish more details were given on this case. My neighbors said they will not ride BART again.

Arent they all technically heading to Antioch when going Eastbound on Bart? Does it really matter that he was headed here? Its Antioch, for all I know I was probably standing behind a murder yesterday morning at Safeway. Oh wait maybe not, it was 7 am, none of those people are up,that early, since they dont actually work.

Dmitri…..always with the r ace victim bulls hit, that card is so used up, thats its just comical at this point. Funny how you assume hes a white supremacist and say how they only prey on the weak. Who do the ho odrats prey on? They prey on old 75 year old men shopping at Orchard and kill him over $5. They always run around in groups cause they are to big of pussies 1 on 1. They use being loud and animated as a way to intimidate people, we all know that. And lastly we all know they dont fight clean, always got to pull out a gun, because they are pussies. Dont assume everyone on here or in Antioch are scared, some of us have no fear.

Poor girl, her poor family. I do not care what transpired on that platform or before. As a man he should have walked away. And for her sister to have to witness it, that’s something she will carry with her for the rest of her life. I hope they find him and hook him up to the chair.

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